Vehicle-frame construction.



PATENTED MAR. 13, 1906.

J. M. GOODWIN. VEHICLE FRAME GONSTRUGTION.

APPLIGATIO! FKLED AUG. 2, I905.

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VEHICLE FRAME CONSTRUCTION.

APPLIOATIUF IiLBD AUG. 2. 1905.

Arrest: Q Inventor: M 7% M r PATENTED MAR. 13, 1966.

.1 M GOGIJWIN. VEHICLE FRAME CONSTRUCTION.

APPLHLQTIGK EKLLD AUG. 2, 1905.

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section on line 3 3 of UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. J OHN M. GOODWIN, OF MOUliT i hRNON, NEW YGRK.

VEHICLE-FRAME CONSTRUCTION.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented March 13, 1906.

Application filed August 2, 1906. Serial No 272,307.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN M. GOGDWIN, a citizen of the United States, residing in the cit} of Mount Vernon, county of Westchester, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Vehicle-Frame Constructions, of which the following is a full, true, and concise specification.

The present invention relates to the construction of vehicles, and more articuiarly of dumping-vehicles wherein t e bottom floor is composed of movable valves not forming a part of the vehicle-frame; and the invention consists in a certain arran ement and disposition of the several parts whereby the same are specially adapte to cooperate to form a rigid vehicle-frame embodying the principles and load-carrying powers of a continuous beam combined. with a eantaliver end-brace construction, whereby certain im portant advantages are secured, as below explained. w 1'.

. Referring to the accompanying drawings, fermio a part hereof, in which like Peter enees esignate like parts throughout, Fi ure 1 is a side elevation of a dumping-vehie e embodyin my invention stripped of dischargingliutes and other-a pnrtenances, so as to expose the center sill t ereof. an end elevation of Fi 1; Fig. 3, a vertical iig. 2, and F 4 is a transverse cross-section of F 2 on inc 4 4 of Fig. 2 and also of Fig. 3. igs. Sand 6 are respectively transverse and vertical sections ofamodified construction... c

The frame of thevehicie is comprised es sentially,of two arallel side girders H, which constitute also t e two upper side margins of the cargo-carryin receptacle, a center sill S which consists 0. two longitudinal flanged beams spaced apartlbytlre cross 'ieces V, Fig. 2, and a pluralit .pf bulkheads L, -L, and K, the end bulkhea s L .thereof Bein rein forced and braced from e c'e W r. sill y the cantaliver end-brace members to preserve them rigidly in upright viirtioal osition; The center sill S extends the ion vehicle, being somewhat doc or at its central portion than at its ends, an it protrudes beond the end bulkheads L 'L, as shown in igs. 1 and 3. At intervals along its length the center sill carries adplurality of pairs of shaft-standards or sad e-pieces P. These are arranged in pairs, as shown in Fig. 1, superposed on top of the sill, and support a lonrig. is

' cle and accordifi gituclinal rock shait J. Between the members of each air of pieces P the shaft J can ries a pair of rackets M M, which are mounted to swing on the said shaft and so port the two center dumping valves A A s iown by the dotted lines of Fig. 2 and fami iar to those skilled in this art. Two detent rock-shafts C C, also journaled in the saddle-pieces, serve to support the brackets M and valves A'in the osition shown in the drawin from whic position they may be release by the proper manipulation of the said shafts C G in well-understood manner. The other bot tom dumping-valves G G are pivotally sus- 7o pended by the hinge-links B B at their outer margins to the two side girders H H, respectively, and their inboard ends are adapted to be normally supported by the free edges of the valves A A, also as indicated by the dot- 7 5 ted lines of Fig. 2. The foregoing system of valve operation is that commonly employed in the well-known Goodwin dumping-car and will not re uire explanation further than to note that t e load on the dam ing-valves is transmitted partly throu h the e-iinks B 'to the side girders H an partiy through the pieces P to the sill S. I

The spaces between the members of the airs of saddle-pieces P are entirelvoccnpied y the parts surrounding the'shsit, and the several pairs of saddle-pieces are likewise spaced apart by means of the special interposed spacing-struts Z, surroundin intermediate ortions of the shaft J, so i; t the said she and pieces P in addition to their primary function of sup orting the bottom valves A and G serve a so as a continuous longitudinal compression member to rein force the center sill against vertical deflection, thereby providing a truss formation for supporting the immediate load of the valves 7 A A. The end bulkheads L form, as uses the end walls of'tho cargo-carrying receptato my present invention and fastened to the sill S and to the ends of the side irders H, so as to a form sup orting post room are for said girdof the ers, wine are incapable of deviation under ordinary" strains from their normal upright ositions. shown in Figs. 1 to 4, the end ilkhsads consist each of a continnous sheet L, with its margin bound by the a le-irons 1 shown in Fig. 4. The end brace Y is secured I e angle formed by the bulkhead'and the end of the sill and consists of two flanged metal sheets or beams each having the cross-section of a U-beam, but being slightly wider at its base than near its top. The two sheets are securely riveted by their flanges 4 4 to the central portion of the sheet L, and angle-bars 5 are fastened in the angles between them. The bases of the two sheets of the end brace extend below the bulkhead and the platform R and are overlapped on the webs of the center sill S, to which they are securely riveted, as shown, so as to resist racking strains in an endwisc direction. The cross or binding )late 6 may be secured to the two members 0 the brace to hold them together, if desired, and forms a' journal-seat for the end of the shaft J. The center bulkhead K is supported upon the sill and secured to the side girders H, as indicated in Fi 4, so that each girder, being supported at three points, forms, in effect, a continuous beam, the points of support being provided, respective by the two end and the center bulkheads. Moreover, the su porting connections between the side gir ers H II and the center sill S, as above described, form these parts into a deep girder-truss, of which the sides H H are two separated top chords, the sill S the bottom chord, and the three bulkheads the post members. The center sill is intended to rest on trucks or other carrying members at the two points marked 7 7 in Fig. l, which points are intermediate of the end bulkheads L L and located as near to the center of each cargo-compartment as is possible and convenient. It will be plain from a consideration of the disposition of the load in the vehicle described. that the downward pressure thereof is resisted in the first instance by the side girders H, which, being functioned to act as continuous beams, as, above described, offer the well-understood load-resisting advantages of such construction. A portion of the downward pressure of the load in the vehicle is also carried as a uniform load directly by the center sill, being transmitted thereto through the center valves A and their series of spaced sup orts P. The pressure of the continuouseam girders on the three post members or bulkeads is transmitted vertically through the same to the sill and is here resisted, not only by the sill alone, nor by the sill reinforced by the spaced saddle-pieces, but also by the sill acting as the bottom chord of the deep girdertruss, which, as already described, com rises the side girders as top chords, the bulkheads as post members, and the sill as a bottom chord. The tendency for the sill to sag between its two oints of sup ort is in addition counteracted y the canta iver action of the two halves of the vehicle-frame, which action is due to the ressure of the end bulkheads on the ends of t he sill beyond its two points of support 7 7 and also to the pressure of the immediate load thereon, this pressure at the said girders i'ar ends of the sill tending, of course, to raise its central ortion. The eflicacy of the truss and cantahver actions mentioned depends in large degree, if not entirely, upon the maintenance of the ends of the side girders at all times in proper fixed relation vertically above the corresponding points of the sill, and therefore of the post members or bulkheads, ri idly in their upright positions, and the si e girders also, acting as a continuous beam, require that the bulkheads be rigid against angular movement with respect to the sill.

A modified construction involving the foregoing principles is exhibited in Figs. 5 and 6, wherein the end bulkhead insteadof being formed of a continuous sheet of metal is formed of two side sections 8 8 and a central or intermediate section 9, which sections when joined together, as indicated, form an end-braced bulkhead. The side sections 8 are provided with outer marginal flanges secured to the side girders H and inner flanges 8, secured to the flanges 9 of the central section 9. The flanges 9 may be of triangular shape, as shown in Fig. 6'i. 6., wider at their bases than at their topsand said flanges extend below the latform B, being secured to the sill like the gases of the braces Y in Figs. 1 to 4. It also carries a cross plate 10 for binding its flanges to ether and providing a support for the end of t e shaft J.

Having described my invention, What I claim, and desire to secure by United States Letters Patent, is

1. A cargo-carrying vehicle having bottom dumpin -valves and comprising two upper side gir ers and a lower central sill, respectively forming the top and bottom chords of a girder-truss, in combmation with upright center and end bulkheads for the vehicle supporting the irders from the sill and serving as post mem ers for said truss, and ri id angle-braces between said sill and the en bulkheads for maintaining the latter in fixed upright position.

2. cargo-carrying vehicle having bottom dum ing-valves and a central sill provided wit 1 two separated points of support, upright bulkheads located on said sill outside 0 said points and side girders carried by said bulkheads, said girders constituting the means of support for said valves, in combination with a central post member on the sill, constituting an intermediate sup ort for the side girders, and angle -braces or the end bulkheads to maintain them in fixed upright position with respect to the sill.

3. A cargo-carrying vehicle having its floor formed of bottom dum ing-valves, and comprised of two upper si e girders and a lower center sill, respectively forming the top and bottom chords of a 'rder-truss, in combmation with vertical en and intermediate bulkheads servin as post members to support cm the sill, means for rigidly reinforcing the end bulkheads in vertical position and means for supporting the sill at two points intermediate of the end bulkheads.

4. A cargo-carrying vehicle having bottom dumping-valves and formed of two side girders constituting the margins of the cargo receptacle from which the dumping-valves are pivotally suspended, a center sill extending beyond the ends of the receptacle and provided with means to support the free ends of said bottom valves, upright hulkheads for the receptacle supporting the ends of side girders thereof from the center sill, in combination with angle-braces between said bulkheads and the ends of the sill to preserve said bulkheads in upright position and means for supporting the sill at points intermediate of the bulkheads.

5. A cargo-carrying vehicle having a center sill, a plurality of saddle-pieces secured thereto, and dumping-valves supported by said pieces, in combination with spacingstruts interposed between said saddle-pieces to form a continuous compression member reinforcing said sill against vertical fiexure.

6. A cargo-carrying vehicle having two side girders, and dumping-valves pivoted thereto, a center sill for the vehicle, a plurality of shaftstandards secured thereon, in combination with a shaft journaled in said standards and provided with means to support the ends of said valves, and spacingstruts interposed between said shaft-standards to form a continuous compression member reinforcing said sill against vertical flexure.

7. A cargo-carrying vehicle having bottom dumpmgvalves and a frame upon which said valves are pivoted comprising two upper side girders, a lower central sill, and upright bulkheads, said bulkheads serving as post members to support the girders from the sill at three or more points and converting said frame into a girder-truss with two upper separated chords, in combination with shalt-standards secured to said sill between bulkheads, a longitudinal shaft iournaled in said standards, valve supporting brackets on said shaft and spacing-struts between standards, the brackets, standards and struts serving as a compression member to reinforce the center sill.

8. A cargo-carrying vehicle having bottom dumping-valves and a frame upon which said valves are pivoted comprising two top chords or side girders, a single bottom chord or center sill and upright bulkheads serving as post members to support the girders from the sill, the said sill being formed of one or more flanged beams extending beyond the ends of the cargo-receptacle, in combination with reinforcing angle-braces located outside of the receptacle and secured to a vertical web of said sill and also to the end bulkheads thereof, respectively, to preserve the latter rigidly in upright position.

9, A cargo-carrying vehicle having bottom dumpingwalves and a girder-frame to which said valves are pivotally connected, comprising two top chords or side girders, a single bottom chord or center sill, and upright bulkheads formed of sheet metal and servin to support the girders from the sill at the ends of the vehicle and at an intermediate point, in combination with reinforcing end braces secured in the angles between the end bulkheads and the sill, and means for su portin said sill at points intermediate of t e end biilkheads.

10. In a dumping-vehicle, a cargo-carrying receptacle comprising two side girders and a center sill, extending beyond the ends of said receptacle, sheet metal bulkheads forming the ends of the receptacle and so porting the side girders thereof from the si 1, angle-braces outside of the receptacle and secured between the bulkheads and sill to preserve them in fixed upright position thereon and dumping valves forming the bottom floor of the receptacle located between the sill and the said side girders.

11. An end bulkhead for cargo-carrying vehicles formed of a plurality of united sheetmetal sections and flanges on opposite margins of one of said sections, extended verti caliy below the bulkhead and adapted to be secured to the center sill of the vehicle.

12. A sectional end bulkhead for cargocarrying vehicles, formed of two side sections having inboard flanges, an intermediate section having side flanges secured to said inboard flanges res ectivel and adapted for connection with t is sill o the vehicle.

13. In a cargo-carrying vehicle having a center sill and dumpin -valves, an end bulkhead supported on said sill and comprised of united sections, one of said sections being formed with vertical flanges overlapping the sides of the center sill and rigidly connected thereto.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to the specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN M. GOODWIN. Witnesses:

E. W. GOODWIN, PHILIP H. LANTZ. 

